Spotify just rolled back its 30% price hike in a key market

It’s not uncommon for service providers, such as Spotify, to hike subscription prices without prior notice. After staying at $12 a month for about a year and a half, Spotify recently increased its monthly prices in the US to $13 for the Standard tier. The UK and Europe also saw a £1/€1 price hike last year, and a similar hike is planned for other regions, including Ireland.

But in a surprising turn of events, Spotify appears to be reducing its prices by roughly 30% in another key market.

Spotify recently revised its pricing in India, where the cost of the monthly Standard Plan has been reduced from Rs. 199 ($2.08) to Rs. 139 ($1.49) a month. While that’s already too attractive when compared to what subscribers pay in the US or some other parts of the world, Spotify is also offering a limited-time introductory offer that slashes the price even further to Rs. 99 ($1.03) for the first three months, even though the offer is only available for first-time subscribers.

How about putting those prices in perspective to the US price hike?

Additionally, Spotify has reduced the price of its Student plan to Rs. 69 ($0.72) per month. Meanwhile, the price of the Platinum tier with Hi-Fi playback and support for three family accounts remains unchanged. At the same time, Spotify has removed the “Lite” plan, which offered ad-free playback but lower audio quality (up to 160 kbps) and no support for downloading music for offline playback.

This change essentially annuls previous price hikes in the country, which may have affected subscription purchases. It’s unclear whether existing subscribers will be reverted to the new pricing or required to cancel their plans and resubscribe.

Notably, YouTube Music and Apple Music have been available as free carrier bundles, making them viable alternatives for anyone who’s not too attached to Spotify and is open to switching. Meanwhile, India accounts for nearly 10% of Spotify’s global user base of 761 million, making it an important market to pursue, if not for revenue, then for increasing its user count.

Back in January, when Spotify announced the $1 price hike in the US, it said the increased prices allow it to “continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists.” The logic may not suit India, which is a price-sensitive market with dirt-cheap internet plans.

While Spotify’s latest price cuts make it more appealing to Indian users, these changes are unlikely to extend to the US. However, we do wish it would set off a new trend of reversing recent price changes in at least some, more competitive markets.